Gray, Lucinda, Nina Thomas,
Laurie Lewis, and Peter Tice. Teachers'
Use of Educational Technology in U.s. Public Schools, 2009: First Look.
Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of
Education Sciences, U.S. Dept. of Education, 2010. Internet resource.
In
this article the National Center for Education Statistics enlisted 4,133
full-time teachers in 2,005 public schools in the 50 states and Columbia to
partake in a questionnaire about different technologies and how they use them
in their classrooms. The survey was broken up into 10 specific topics such as
“Number of computers located in the teacher’s classrooms every day and number
that can be brought into the classroom”, “Availability and frequency of use for
computers and other technology devices during instructional time” and “Types of
software and Internet sites used by teachers for classroom preparation, instruction,
and administrative tasks” to name a few.
The
National Center for Education Statistics has taken a survey like this every
year from 1995 (excluding 2004), with the adoption of new technologies. These
questionnaires allow one to group and analyze data from either year to year, or
allow one to see a more broad evolution.
The “Selected Findings” portion let one see the most noticeable
statistics from the year and compiles them to allow for the reader to see what
lies within the additional text. The article is designed to catch a readers’
eye, they use bullet points for important statistics and then paragraphs to
explain what was asked and what the purpose of the question was. The use of
tables allows for one to see answers based on a multitude of subject areas;
community type, teacher experience, % of students eligible for free/reduced
lunch, etc.
After
sifting through the pages of charts, tables, and statistics I was able to see
that I could use this article in more than one way. This article allows me to
have hard evidence that is unarguable to use. In knowing that I have records
that date back to 1995, I now have the ability to compare how teachers taught
with technology back then and in this day and age.
·
“Ninety-seven percent of teachers had
one or more computers located in the classroom every day, while 54 percent
could bring computers into the classroom (table 1). Internet access was
available for 93 percent of the computers located in the classroom every day
and for 96 percent of the computers that could be brought into the classroom.
The ratio of students to computers in the classroom every day was 5.3 to 1.”
(13)
·
Teachers sometimes or often used the
following for instructional or administrative purposes: word processing
software (96 percent), spreadsheets and graphing programs (61 percent),
software for managing student records (80 percent), software for making
presentations (63 percent), and the Internet (94 percent) (table 6).” (13)
·
The percentage of teachers that reported
that the following activities prepared them (to a moderate or major extent) to
make effective use of educational technology for instruction are 61 percent for
professional development activities, 61 percent for training provided by school
staff responsible for technology support and/or integration, and 78 percent for
independent learning (table 9).” (14)
McIntyre, Beverly
Kesler. "Teachers' Beliefs and Practices regarding the Role of Technology
in Literacy Instruction: A Mixed Methods Study." The University of North
Carolina at Charlotte, 2011. United States -- North Carolina: ProQuest. Web. 26
Mar. 2013.
Beverly McIntyre wrote this dissertation to partially
fulfill the requirements to obtain her Doctorate in Philosophy in Curricular
and Instruction. She wrote her dissertation on teacher’s beliefs and practices
regarding the role of technology in literacy instruction. She did a broad study
at first and then honed in and did an in-depth study in three teachers to see
what role technology played. Throughout the dissertation she explains what she
defines technology as and then goes through and talks about what she witnessed
in each classroom regarding the integration of technology and how it affected
the teacher’s instruction to the class. She breaks it down into 7 chapters,
each leading into the next. The first three chapters are each teacher and their
beliefs on technology, as well as how they use it, and then how that teachers
beliefs were portrayed in class.
McIntyre took a general survey based on technology and
then narrowed it down to three teachers. This allows her to really analyze each
case and having three teachers allows her to get enough data to formulate a
conclusion. Having each teacher be of a different technology class, meaning one
frequent user, one moderate user, and one infrequent user, allows her to see
what commonalities each has and if technology can be implemented to ease
outside pressures and be on a level of common understanding with students. McIntyre remains unbiased throughout the
entirety of the portion I read; using just her findings to illustrate points
and gather enough data to formulate and accurate statement.
The article was a key piece to my inquiry project.
McIntyre asked the almost the same question I am asking, her dissertation not
only afforded me valuable insight and facts, but leas me to addition sources. I
plan on using her dissertation as one of my most heavily used sources due to
the fact our inquiries are so closely tied.
·
“…technology use in the teachers’
literacy instruction was influenced by such factors as their pedagogical beliefs,
perceived administrative support, the amount and type of professional
development teachers received, the ease of access to technology, perceived
barriers to technology integration, and teachers’ attitudes towards technology.”
(4)
·
“The current generation is now referred
to as digital natives because they are born into the digital age” (16)
·
“Of teens aged 12 – 17, 93% use the
Internet daily, 55% maintain profiles on social etworking sites such as
Facebook or MySpace, and 89% report holding virtual conversations which stem
from online posts of photos. Of the 55% who use social networking sites, 42% of
them also maintain blogs, 70% read others’ blogs, and 76% post comments on
either the blogs or social networking sites of their friends. Teen usage of the
Internet is growing rapidly. Just two years prior, only 90% of the same aged
teens were Internet users and seven years prior only 76% of those teens used
the Internet (Lenhart, Madden, & Hitlin, 2005).” (16)
Pedró, Francesc. Connected Minds:
Technology and Today’s Learners. OECD Publishing,2012. Print.
Pedró writes about how
technology isn’t about the device itself or the person using it. It is about
the connectedness of the individual with the technology and the rest of the
world. He goes and speaks about the different decades and how Information
Technology (IT) started out in the 80’s as knowledge of computers and word
processing, then to the early 90’s with DVD’s and flash discs, to the mid 90’s
in to today where IT encompasses all technology and how it interacts with the
world. Pedró separates the book in to three chapters that focus on three categories:
making the case for NML (New Millennium Learners), contrasting hypothesis with
empirical data, and drawing implications for policy, practice and research.
In writing this book,
Pedró shares his bias towards technology and explains where we as a society
came from and how we got where we are now. In “Connected Minds” he explains
that technology is creating and expanding existing processes through the means
of Information, from production to access, from accumulation to sharing;
Services, be they are commercial or free, public or private; and People, so as
to reinforce existing social networks or to be incorporated into new ones. He strays
from the topic of education and focuses more on the Global perspective and how
we as one world need to afford every person the ability to “plug in”.
I liked the book, but
am unable to use major parts of it due to the fact that he strays from education
to a more global perspective. I was able to find good facts and findings that I
can use to reinforce my findings in other sources.
·
“Technological
change has made the state of being connected, or not, far more important today
for the economy, for society, and for individuals than the vast array of
technology…” (16)
·
“Being connected does
not necessarily translate into immediate benefits.” (17)
·
“The emerging
knowledge economy, so permeated by technology, not only transforms businesses
but also shapes the labour market by having an impact on skill demands.” (35)
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